Force Friday was last Friday, and that means that the
official kickoff of new Star Wars merchandise season is upon us. New waves of Black Series figures, new waves of 3.75”
figures and vehicles, and all the marvelous The
Last Jedi plot details we can glean from them.
The Target exclusive First Order Executioner is the first
new First Order trooper made available since the conclusion of the The Force Awakens line. We know now,
thanks to some online postings and videos, that this will not be the only new
First Order trooper, as an exclusive Heavy Gunner is imminent as well. But, the
Executioner appears to be set to either fill a fairly major role in the next
film, or join Captain Phasma and Darth Maul as heavily marketed characters who
barely appear in their films, or end up being the new breakout star, like thisguy.
For now, we don’t know. Difficult to see, the future is.
Always changing. But here’s what is known.
The First Order Executioner is a repaint of the standard
First Order Stormtrooper, a figure that arrived to much fanfare and attention
two years ago only to be mostly forgotten or overlooked since. It’s kind of
strange, really, that after the release of The
Force Awakens, Star Wars as a toy line kind of went back to the old days of
the prequels or even Original Trilogy. An occasional Rey or Kylo popped up here
and there, but the Black Series went
OT before taking two waves for Rogue One,
and the 3.75” figures seem to be more focused on Rebels characters, probably because that’s the current kids media
and price point. But, generalizations. The Executioner is the same First Order
Stormtrooper body with a slightly different deco, but it is different enough
that it gives the figure that second life that other uses of the mold haven’t
been able to do. There are not many First Order Stormtroopers, and a mental
scan of the shelf they occupy yields only two real results: the original, and
the commander version, an Amazon exclusive. The Flametrooper is a different
armor, and the good ol’ Riot Trooper is really more of a specific character
than a different kind of Stormtrooper.
The Executioner sports two main paint differences: a black
stripe along the helmet, and black shoulder pads. The shoulder pads in
particular give this the appearance of being a completely new figure. Something
as simple as the black pads with the First Order crest on each makes this look
completely new, and that is quite the amazing trick. It has been said in these
pages several times before, but a little paint on Stormtrooper armor usually
produces a new-looking character, something that the prequel Clones never had
an issue with. One of the best OT Stormtrooper Black Series figures is the battle damaged one from the Amazonexclusive pack of two years ago, an old and tried design made stunningly fresh
and vibrant thanks to some blast marks. The black shoulder pads on the
Executioner make it look larger in stature, something more fitting an
executioner. The black paint on the helmet is nice, and really does draw the
eye, but it does not give the same sense of newness that the shoulder pads do. 
For an accessory, the Executioner comes with what is
apparently the First Order ax, a thin plastic energy-encircled handheld staff. Harrumph.
As far as accessories go, it’s not very good: the plastic is flimsy and thin,
and bends far too easily. Perhaps this is to prevent it from breaking or being
a hazard to kids or something, but overall, it is physically weak. The staff is
not long enough for the figure to grip the piece in any kind of action or
execution pose, even if the First Order Stormtrooper arms could bend enough at
the elbows to allow for such a two handed grip. While the weapon in the movie
will undoubtedly have some cool deployment animation, in figure form it’s not
very threatening, and not detailed or clear enough to generate much enthusiasm.
It appears that it is a collapsible item, or that the head parts that
accommodate the energy field will fold out from a larger, blockier position;
this accessory does not do that, but it is sort of discernable from the
deployed configuration. This is the only
part the figure comes with: no blaster or anything, and that makes sense, since
this is apparently a figure of someone who fills a very particular role in the
First Order, and yet is such a basic trooper.
An excellent store exclusive, on all accounts though. New
movie, new character. Here-to-fore unknown trooper. Simple yet effective
repaint. Something to start drumming up interest in the new movie and stoke the
flames of speculation and prediction. Yet it is kind of disheartening that this
is the only First Order unit that is in the initial wave of The Last Jedi figures. There is clearly
an intention to obscure plot details and surprises by not releasing everything
all at once, or by releasing certain items now and holding on to others for
later; certainly we remember the phony controversy over the lack of Rey figures
following the launch of the The Force
Awakens line, because Reys beyond the first one came with lightsabers,
which if you recall, was a pretty important revelation in The Force Awakens. So it’s understandable that Hasbro doesn’t want
to release anything that’s going to give the game away, yet wants to release things
which will generate enthusiasm and interest. But the initial Black Series wave doesn’t even include a
regular First Order Stormtrooper . . . but does include a Darth Vader that has already
been released. What? This is not a place where you should expect to read
criticisms or complaints about there being more Darth Vader figures, and the
old adage of having to include legacy characters in pretty much every single
Star Wars line is well worn in general. But come on. No Stormtroopers, and the
only one is an exclusive and not likely a unit that would necessitate army
building. Just seems strange.
If the intention of releasing this figure in the first wave
is to generate enthusiasm, mission accomplished. The problem is that we already
know this trooper, so unlike when The
Force Awakens line up of Black Series
figures initially included the standard First Order trooper, the amount of
newness and excitement here is a bit tamped down. Not a bad figure in the
least, but there is a fading of the enthusiasm it brings after a few days, but
that is caused more by the lack of other troopers to compliment this one. Or,
maybe, maybe the fatigue has already set in with the new cast? The wave
contains another Poe Dameron, who is pretty cool, but the response here is to
wonder who, or more accurately, what new, never before seen character, could
have taken that spot. With OT figures, that feeling is uncommon, because the
source material is something finished and closed: another Han is ok, because we’re
not anticipating something that we don’t know. With The Last Jedi figures, there is a sense of “what surprises await??”
that isn’t being tempered by now familiar characters wearing new outfits. Of course,
new figures and characters and information will all be revealed in time, but
you can’t be faulted for seeing the First Order Executioner and realizing that
you crave something more.
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